Lisa Domshy confuses two aspects of driving, in saying that driving is a privilege not a right, in your Jan. 28, 2015 issue.
She is fortunate she doesn’t live in the USSR where people had to get government permission to move, nor in an Islamic totalitarian country where females are very restricted.
The question is how to evaluate risk to others from the individual driver’s performance. That’s the purpose of a license. But the system does not evaluate psychology, thus can’t ensure safe driving. That’s why police are supposed to be on the street to re-educate those who put others at risk. Does Domshy vote for more policing?
And the system supposedly rescinds a driver’s license for repeated bad behaviour, but it seems that doesn’t happen until someone who has been caught driving dangerously dozens of times kills someone.
Domshy certainly is correct that one can be a bad driver at any age.
Yet there are medical conditions affecting young people, such as anorexia nervosa which the Canadian Medical Association considers unsafe to drive with. In contrast, the CMA considers that angina does not disqualify a driver of an enclosed vehicle that keeps the driver warm (whereas a motorcycle does not so risk is much higher).
Whether or not the average doctor is familiar with the guidelines is a question.
Keith Sketchley, Saanich